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Railways to speed up fixing of bio-toilets

New Delhi, Aug 29, 2013, DH News Service 0:32 IST

The Railways has informed Parliament that it will speed-up the implementation of bio-toilets on passenger coaches.

The data placed before the House reveals that in the last four months, 2,285 bio-toilets have been fitted.

The ministry said now 1,400 running coaches have 3,800 bio-toilets on various trains. The Railways is now manufacturing all new conventional passenger coaches fitted with bio-toilets.

This pollution-free technique entails treatment of human waste in anaerobic condition by bacteria. It converts human waste into water and small amount of gases, methane and carbon dioxide.

The gases escape into the atmosphere and waste is discharged after chlorination onto the track, thereby avoiding human waste on the track. This is environmentally friendly and also improves the working condition for the track staff.

However, the maintenance of bio-toilets require caution. Throwing items like plastic bottles, paper cups, cloth, sanitary napkins, plastic/poly bags and gutka packets will choke these toilets and render them non-functional.